PERSONAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9491, 21 April 1894, Page 4 (Supplement)

PERSONAL ITEMS.

Mr. Astor, proprietor of the Pall Mall Gazette, is said to have lost £40,000 over his newspaper last year. It is reported that Sir E. N. C. Braddon's sight is failing to such an extent that he cannot see the Treasury benches. Lord Wolseley's title will descend to his daughter, the Hon. Frances Wolseley. Tho great General only accepted a peerage on this condition. The Pullman cars on the American railways are all named by one of Mr. Pullman's daughters. She gets £250 a yei»r for this service. The Czar receives no salary from the Government, but has an income of something approaching two and a-half millions sterling a year from his estates. Herr Much, of Vienna, one of tho most celebrated of scholars in the matter of European languages, is learning Irish. He is at present in Dublin, taking les?on< from the professor of Irish at Trinity College. Count Fabbricotti,'the owner of the villa at Florence which is presently to be occupied by the Queen-Empress, is an ardent cyclist, who has a long track within his grounds. This will be utilised for Her Majesty's morning airings in her donkeychair. The Russian Emperor's habit of hunting by moonlight or by daybreak, which was recently much commented upon, and has given rise to many conjectures, is said to have a very simple cau»e, which is well known in Russia. The Czar suffers from insomnia, and invites sleep by exercise »ri the chase. Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, a brotner of Alexander the Third, enjoys the distinction ci being the most magnificently tattooed prince of the blood in Europe. His right arm is adorned with a superb dragon, which covers it almost entirely from halfway between the wrist and elbpw to the shoulder. The refusal of Mr. Watte, the artist, to accept a baronetcy recalls an old story which reveals very clearly the humour and adroitness of the late Lord Beaconstield. A steady-going, wealthy politician asked tor a seat in the Upper House. "No," said Disraeli, " I can't give you a peerage, but I tell you what. You can say I did offer you one, but that you refused it." Mr. Newnes, M.P., is credited with one of the most rapidly- fortunes of the past few years. Thirteen years ago his income was small and variable. Then in 1881 he started his journal, which soo'< "struck ile,' and he is co-day one of th* I richest members of the House of Commons, i with large estates and a prosperous business, in addition to which he is the prin- ! cipal owner of many well-known specialii tics. Mr. P. C. Selous, the famous hunter, has a great reputation for veracity through out Africa. According to the two lady cursee, Miss Blennerhassett and Miss Sleeman, who recently published their experiences of Mashonaland, his title is "The man who never tells a lie." So thoroughly i? he trusted, indeed, that the tallest story would be accepted by a native as literal truth if Mr. Selous' name were given as authority to it. i A famous gambler in tho person of " Billy" I Deutech has just died of consumption at I Denver, Colorado, 'at tho comparatively ! early age of 48. He will bo remembered I among the English players in Paris as hav- ■ ing won in 1885 £60,000 on the capital of a five-franc piece, and was known as the King of Baccarat;. He died in poverty, but prior to his death he destroyed notes of hand, signed by his friends in the days of prosperity, to the amount of £8000. Count Wilhelm Bismarck, Court President in Hanover, recently received a letter from Anarchists threatening his life. Tho count is the younger son of the ex-Chan-cellor, and the handsomest-featured mem her of the family. He is much shorter than Count Herbert, however, and much more ' heavily set. It was he who induced' Princc j Bismarck to try the Schweninger "cure." I He is not considered so clever as the elder ! son, although ho was mure popular in I Berlin. He served in ; the army and in the J Franco-Prussian war, and was" One of the j strongest men in his regiment